想当爸爸了Fathers

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, I’m Catherine.
大家好，欢迎来到六分钟英语。我是凯瑟琳。
And I’m Neil.
我是尼尔。
Now, Neil, you’re a dad, aren’t you?
尼尔，你现在当爸爸了，是吗？
I am a dad. How did you know? Is it the grey hair in my beard? Is it the wrinkles around the eyes?
我是当爸爸了。你怎么知道的？是我花白的胡子？还是我眼部的皱纹？
I thought that was just your age.
我觉得那只是因为你的年龄。
Well, yes, maybe.In today’s programme we’re going to be talking about fathers and how being a father has changed over the years. But before we hear more about this topic, our question for the day. According to recent research in the UK, what percentage of men are present when their children are born? Is it… a) 55% b) 75% or c) 95%?What do you think?
好吧，是的，也许是。在今天的节目里，我们将要谈到爸爸们以及如何当爸爸在这些年所发生的改变。但是在我们听到更多关于这个主题的内容之前是我们今天的问题。根据英国最新调查，当孩子出生时，有百分之多少的准爸爸在场？是……a) 55% b) 75% 还是c) 95%？你觉得呢？
I think a lot of men these days like to see their children born. It’s not culturally inappropriate, so I’m going to go for 95%.
我觉得现在许多男性愿意亲眼见到自己的孩子出生。从文化角度来看，它并非不适当，所以我说是95%。
Well, we’ll find out if you’re right at the end of the programme. Now, Dr Anna Machin is an evolutionary anthropologist. She studies, among other things, how human behaviour has changed and is changing. She’s written a book called The Life of Dad. She’s been studying new fathers and spoke about her research on the BBC’s Woman’s Hour programme. She asked why men want to become fathers. She starts by saying that there are lots of reasons. But how many does she mention in her answer?
好的，节目最后我们将揭晓你是否正确。安娜·梅钦博士是一名进化人类学家。此外她还研究人类行为是如何发生改变以及正在如何改变。她写了一本叫做《父亲的生活》的书。她一直在研究初为人父的男性，而且在BBC节目《女性时间》中谈到了她的研究。她问为什么男性想当爸爸了。她先是说那有很多原因。但是在她的回答中她提到了几条？
There’s lots of different reasons why men want to be fathers ... For some of them it’s just a stage in life they’ve reached. They’ve got the house, they’ve got the job, now it’s time to have a family. Sometimes they admit that actually they’re not that keen, but their partner wants a baby, so they’re kinda going along with it. And a reasonable number actually say they do it because they want to undo what their father did to them, so rewrite history in relation to fathers and the experience of fathering, to be a better father than their father was.
男性为什么想当爸爸有很多原因……对他们一些人来说，那只是他们人生所到达的一个阶段。他们有了房子，有了工作，现在是时候有一个家了。有时候他们承认事实上自己并没那么热衷，但是他们的妻子想要孩子，所以他们就同意要个孩子。而且有不少人说他们要孩子是因为他们想要消除他们的爸爸对自己造成的影响，所以是想要改写为人父以及父子关系的历史，比他们的爸爸做得更好。
How many reasons does she mention?
她提到了几个原因？
She mentioned three reasons. The first was that it was that time in life – the guys had a home and a job and having children was the thing to do next.
她提到了三个原因。第一个原因是到时候了——男人有了家，有了工作，要孩子就是下一步要做的事情了。
Another reason was that it was what their partners wanted, even if they weren’t that keen themselves. If you’re not keen on something, it means you are ’not enthusiastic about it’, it’s not really something you want to do. But because it’s what their partner wants, they agree to it. Or as Dr Machin said, they’re going along with it.
另一个原因是他们的妻子想要孩子，即使他们自己并没有那么热衷。如果你不热衷于某事，那就是指你对它并不热情，它并不是你真的想要做的事情。但是因为他们的另一半想要，所以他们同意那样做。或者正如梅钦博士所说，他们同意生个孩子。
Yes, ’going along with something’ is a phrase that means ’agreeing to do’ something even though you don’t really want to do it. It’s interesting that Dr Machin said that some men admit to this.To admit to something’ is to say or agree that something is true, even if you’re perhaps ashamed of it or you don’t want it to be true.
是的，“going along with something”是一个短语，指的是同意做某事，即使你并不是真的想做。很有趣，梅钦博士说一些男性接承认这个。“To admit to something”是表达或者赞同某事是正确的，即使你或许对它感到羞愧或者你并不想它是真的。
There was one more reason she mentioned and that was that some men become parents because they want to be a better father than their own father had been. Let’s listen again.
她还提到了一个理由，那就是一些男性当爸爸是因为他们想要成为比他们自己的爸爸还要好的爸爸。让我们再听一次。
There’s lots of different reasons why men want to be fathers ... For some of them it’s just a stage in life they’ve reached. They’ve got the house, they’ve got the job, now it’s time to have a family. Sometimes they admit that actually they’re not that keen, but their partner wants a baby, so they’re kinda going along with it. And a reasonable number actually say they do it because they want to undo what their father did to them, so rewrite history in relation to fathers and the experience of fathering, to be a better father than their father was.
男性为什么想当爸爸有很多原因……对他们一些人来说，那只是他们人生所到达的一个阶段。他们有了房子，有了工作，现在是时候有一个家了。有时候他们承认事实上自己并没那么热衷，但是他们的妻子想要孩子，所以他们就同意要个孩子。而且有不少人说他们要孩子是因为他们想要消除他们的爸爸对他们造成的影响，所以是想要改写为人父以及父子关系的历史，比他们的爸爸做得更好。
So what is it about some father’s own dads that they didn’t like? Here’s Dr Machin again.
所以一些爸爸并不赞同自己的爸爸是怎么回事？ 这是梅钦博士再次谈到的。
Well, in some cases, you know, the father would be neglectful. Some fathers were absent and others they just felt they were a very ...I suppose, we’d say a 1950s father so distant, disciplinarian not actually involved in their children’s daily life and certainly not involved in their care. So today’s generation fathers, even in the 10 years that I’ve been studying dads, we’ve seen a massive evolution in how hands-on fathers are.
好吧，在一些情况下，父亲会忽略孩子。一些父亲会缺席而其他父亲只是觉得自己非常……我猜测，我们会说50年代的父亲如此疏远，纪律严明，并没有真正参与到他们孩子的日常生活中，当然也没参与对他们的照顾。所以今天这一代的父亲，即使是在我研究的10年里，我们看到这些亲历亲为的爸爸们是如何发展壮大的。
She talks there about some negative characteristics associated with dads in the past. She suggests that some fathers didn’t have a very close relationship with their sons.They were absent, which means they weren’t at home a lot and didn’t spend time with their children.
她说过去的爸爸们有一些消极特征。她暗示一些爸爸和自己的孩子没有非常亲近的关系。他们缺席了，那指的是他们不经常在家，而且没有和他们的孩子共度时光。
Yes, and some fathers were seen as a disciplinarian. That describes someone whose main communication with their children was to give them strict rules and tell them off or punish them if they did something wrong.
是的，一些父亲被看做是纪律严明的人。那描述的是和孩子的主要沟通交流就是给他们制定严格要求的那些人，而且当孩子犯错时会责备他们或者惩罚他们。
These days, according to Dr Machin, fathers are much more hands-on. This phrase means they are much more involved with their children and share bringing up their children with their partners.
现在据梅钦博士称，爸爸们更加亲历亲为。这个短语指的是他们更多地参与到他们孩子的生活中，而且和他们的另一半共同养育孩子。
And talking of sharing, Neil, come on. it’s time to know the answer to today’s question.
而且谈到份额，尼尔，来吧，现在是时候揭晓今天问题的答案了。
Yes, indeed. According to recent research in the UK, what is the percentage of fathers who are there when their children are born? Was it 55%, 75% or 95%?
是的，确实是。根据英国最近的调查，孩子出生时，有百分之多少的准爸爸在场？是55%, 75% 还是 95%？
And I said a very optimistic, 95%.
我说是一个非常乐观的数字，95%。
Being optimistic is good obviously, because you are correct.
乐观显然很好，因为你回答正确。
That’s fantastic!
那难以置信。
And now, for something else fantastic, our review of today’s vocabulary…
现在，令人难以置信的事情是我们要回顾今天的单词了……
We started off with ’admit to’ for when you say something is true, even if it might make you look a little bit bad. And before we go on I have to admit, Neil, that it was me who ate your biscuit.
我们从“admit to”开始，指的是当你说某事是正确的时候，即使它或许让你看起来有一点糟糕。而且在我们继续之前，我不得不承认，尼尔，吃掉你饼干的人是我。
Which one?
哪个饼干？
The one that you left on the desk.
你放在桌子上的饼干。
That’s all right. I wasn’t really keen on it anyway. It had been on the floor.
没事。反正我也真的不热衷于它。它之前掉地上了。
What? Yuck!
什么？呸！
Yeah, well, it serves you right! And ’to be keen on something’ is our next phrase, meaning ’being very interested in and enthusiastic about something’.
是的。好吧，是你自作自受。而且“to be keen on something”是我们下一个短语，指的是“对某事非常感兴趣或者非常热情”。
Then we had ’to go along with something’. This is when you agree to do something even if you are not keen on it.
然后我们还学了“to go along with something”。这是指当你同意做某事的时候，即使你并不热衷于它。
An absent father is one who is not at home to spend time with his children.
缺席的父亲是没有和自己的孩子在家中共度时光的人。
And some fathers are disciplinarians. They have strict rules and they give out punishments. But these days more fathers are hands-on, which means they are ’very much involved’ in looking after and bringing up their children.
而且一些父亲是纪律严明的人。他们有严格的要求，而且会实施惩罚。但是现在更多的父亲是亲历亲为，那指的是他们更多地参与到照顾以及养育孩子的过程中。
Well, that’s all we have time for today. Join us again next time and remember you can find us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and of course our website bbclearningenglish.com. See you soon. Goodbye!
好的，以上就是今天的所有内容。下次再加入我们啊，而且要记得，你可以在Instagram，Facebook，Twitter，YouTube，当然还有我们的网站bbclearningenglish.com上找到我们。下次见。再见。
Bye!
拜！